Volleyball Halts Streak With 3-1 Win at Duke
Story Links
Sept. 25, 2015
DURHAM, N.C. — Four players tallied double-digit kills to lead the Virginia volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 25-23) win over Duke on Friday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was the first win for UVa in Durham, N.C. since 2003 and ended a 17-match losing streak to the Blue Devils.
“This was a nice win for our program,” head coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “Our kids played extremely hard and that is the type of effort it takes to win in the ACC day in and day out. It has been a long time since a UVa team beat Duke and even longer since it as been done in Cameron. We have a big match tomorrow and we will be ready to go.”
Virginia (9-3, 1-0 ACC) out-hit Duke (6-6, 1-1 ACC) with a .285 attack percentage, to just .196 for the Blue Devils. The Cavaliers also had the advantage with four service aces to two, and seven blocks to six for Duke.
Freshman Anna Walsh (Grapevine, Texas) led all players with a career-high18 kills on .500 hitting. Walsh also matched a career-high with five blocks. Senior Kayla Sears (Moorpark, Calif.) tallied 14 kills, senior Natalie Bausback (Carlsbad, Calif.) had 12 and junior Haley Kole (Tallahassee, Fla.) added 10.
Senior Lauren Fuller (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) dished out 49 assists in the match and added 12 digs for her first double-double of the season. For the second-straight match, junior Lexi Riccolo (Wheaton, Ill.) recorded over 20 digs with a match-high 24.
After falling behind 7-2, Virginia used a 6-0 run behind Riccolo’s serve to take an 8-7 lead and force a Duke timeout. The teams saw five ties until a 4-0 run put UVa up 16-14. The Cavaliers remained in front to win the first set, 25-17.
Virginia carried its momentum over into the second set, as it jumped out to a 6-3 lead. UVa stretched its lead out to as many as eight points. Duke cut it to 22-17, but the Cavaliers recorded three-straight points to close out the set with a 25-17 win.
The third set was a battle from the beginning with 13 ties and neither team leading by more than a point. Duke was able to stretch its lead out to 19-15, but Virginia fought back with a 4-1 run to cut the lead to one, 20-19. The Blue Devils held on to win 25-21 and send it to a fourth set.
It was another tight set to begin the fourth, but three-straight points that included kills put UVa up 9-6. The Cavaliers continued to put distance on the Blue Devils as they took a 21-16 lead. Duke would come back to cut Virginia’s lead to one, 24-23, but a block by Walsh and L. Fuller sealed the win.
Virginia remains on the road in conference-play as it travels to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.